NC urges immediate elections for Rajya Sabha, Assembly by-polls in J&K

Srinagar, May 26: The elections for the four vacant Rajya Sabha seats from Jammu and Kashmir, as well as the two unfilled Assembly seats in Nagrota and Budgam, should be held as soon as possible, the National Conference (NC) said on Monday.
Addressing a press conference here, NC Chief Spokesperson Tanvir Sadiq, accompanied by Treasurer Shammi Oberoi, Provincial President Kashmir Showkat Ahmad Mir and State Spokesperson Imran Nabi Dar, appealed to the Government of India (GoI) and the Election Commission of India (ECI) to hold these elections without further delay.
“J&K doesn’t have representation in the Rajya Sabha. In 2019, we were told by the BJP that they were joining J&K with the mainstream and, like other states, they want to keep J&K in the same style. On today’s date, we are not getting the same rights as West Bengal, Tamil Nadu, Arunachal Pradesh and Gujarat,” Sadiq said.
He added that a notification was issued recently by the Election Commission regarding by-elections in various states, yet J&K was excluded. “Today marks the seventh month, and our four Rajya Sabha seats are still vacant,” he said. “This is the only UT in which there is no representation in the Rajya Sabha. What are the reasons for this? We want to ask the Election Commission and the Union Government why they have stopped the Rajya Sabha elections for J&K even after seven months.”
The spokesperson said that, alongside this, the notification for by-elections did not include the two vacant Assembly seats—Nagrota and Budgam. “Two seats were left vacant after the death of BJP member Davender from Nagrota and the resignation of Omar Abdullah from Budgam. Under the rule, within six months, elections should be held on these two seats,” he said.
“We are again surprised as to why J&K has been excluded. These are the questions which we need answers to—either from the Government of India or from the ECI. When are they going to hold Rajya Sabha elections and bypolls on the two unfilled seats?” he asked.
Sadiq urged that the four Rajya Sabha seats and two Assembly seats should go to elections as soon as possible.
Touching on other issues, Sadiq, an MLA from Zadibal, said online betting has become a serious problem, much like drug abuse. “Today, online betting has become a big issue, just like drug abuse. Mirwaiz has also raised this issue. We want to appeal to the police department to take a strict direction as there is no law and order in our government,” he said.
Speaking about the NC’s recent Working Committee meeting, he said it has unsettled the party’s opponents. “Our Working Committee has passed two very important resolutions among seven, and two of them were especially significant—one about the special status of J&K and the other about the statehood of our state,” Sadiq said. “We passed them at a time when other political parties are sitting at home and only criticising the government. The NC passed these resolutions in the Cabinet, the Assembly, and in the Working Committee meeting.”
He said the party wants to give a strong message to the people of J&K that their promises regarding special status and statehood are permanent. “We will never remove them from our agenda.”
He further appealed to the Government of India to focus on the revival of tourism in J&K. On the demand for statehood, he said, “The Prime Minister, the Home Minister, and even the Constitutional Bench have promised it. The time has come. The right of statehood to Kashmir should be restored as soon as possible.”
Reacting to PDP’s remark that the NC headquarters has become a new Cabinet house, Sadiq said, “Unfortunately, PDP is now confined to three people. The party that talked about self-rule is now confined to only a couple of people because the rest of the party is here and there. National Conference is a grassroots political party.”